Timberwolves send Rudy Gobert home after fight with Kyle Anderson

MINNEAPOLIS(AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves are fired up for thepostseason.

Whether theyhave enough depth and maturity to stay a while is to bedetermined.

Timberwolvescenter Rudy Gobert was sent home after throwing a punch at teammateKyle Anderson during an argument on the bench in the second quarterSunday against New Orleans, shortly after ace defender JadenMcDaniels put his availability in doubt by hitting a wall out offrustration.

“This isprobably one of the grittier wins I think anyone will ever be apart of. The things we went through in today’s game are not normal.Hit after hit, we just found a way to lean on each other,” pointguard Mike Conley said. “The most important thing is we could haveeasily splintered. Whether it was Kyle and Rudy or hearing newsabout Jaden, it was one hit after another, but it just brought moreout of us. We dug down deep.”

Kyle Anderson and Rudy Gobert had to beseparated after a heated altercation during a timeout. pic.twitter.com/HVuPNdjrxs

Gobert sent agroup-text apology to the team, Conley said. Coach Chris Finchdeclined to speculate about potential punishment for Gobert, whowas playing with back spasms after being listed asquestionable.

Gobert alsoapologized in apost on Twitter.

“Emotions gotthe best of me today,” he wrote. “I should not have reacted the wayi did regardless of what was said.”

Emotions got the best of me today. I shouldnot have reacted the way i did regardless of what was said. I wannaapologize to the fans, the organisation and particularly to Kyle,who is someone that i truly love and respect as a teammate.

Anderson, afiery but respected leader who has given the Wolves a big boostwith his versatility and experience in his first season with theteam, engaged in a heated discussion with Gobert about one of themany sequences that had gone wrong to that point while the team wasin a huddle during a timeout late in the second quarter.

Gobert thenended the argument byraising hisarmto strike Anderson in the upper chest with his hand,before the two were separated and Gobert was taken back to thelocker room. Taurean Price also reacted to Gobert’s swing byjumping out of his seat to give Gobert a shove.

“I thinktempers just flared,” Anderson said afterward. “That’s all.”

Anderson saidhe didn’t think the two would have trouble getting along movingforward.

“We want towin games. It is what it is. It ain’t the first time someone hasswung on me,” he said.

President ofBasketball Operations Tim Connelly issued a statement confirmingthe Timberwolves decided to send Gobert home after thesecond-quarter flap.

“His behavioron the bench was unacceptable, and we will handle the situationinternally,” said Connelly, whose first big move on the job lastsummer was to acquire Gobert from Utah in ablockbustertrade.

TheWolvesbeat the Pelicans113-108to finish in eighth place in the WesternConference and draw a play-in tournament matchup with the LosAngeles Lakers by moving ahead of New Orleans in the standings.They were headed to a loss and the lower seed with a lifeless firsthalf.

After AnthonyEdwards settled for a step-back 3-pointer that fell short, thePelicans raced the other way for a dunk by Brandon Ingram for a48-36 lead that triggered a timeout by Wolves coach Chris Finchwith 4:23 remaining before halftime. Then came the fight.

The Wolvesannounced at halftime that Gobert and McDaniels would not play therest of the way. McDaniels,it turned out, had hit a wall in thetunnel that leads to the locker room out of frustration in thefirst quarter and did not return. ESPN and The Athletic reportedthat McDaniels broke his hand.

“Certainlyimmaturity has been one of our issues all season,” Finch said.

The Wolveshave long been adept at making situations harder on themselves. Theeasier games have actually been the hardest part for the Wolvesthis season, with a total of 16 losses to the bottom 10 teams inthe league. Win just two more of those, and they would’ve avoidedthe play-in tournament. Four more wins, and they would have the No.4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round.

“But thosedays are gone. We have to focus now on what we’ve got and movingforward,” Finch said.